Why Us?

Most important: we are not Realtors doing management as a side-line. You don’t want an unlicensed neighbor or a Realtor who dabbles in management.

Property management is a very different profession. The forms, the laws, the procedures, the experience.

Our office is owned and run by a licensed Broker. California requires it.

Property management is our bread and butter. We are incorporated, licensed, insured, trained, and experienced as property managers.

We are a small company. There’s an advantage. You get personal service. As an owner your point of contact is directly with the Broker/owner Ramer Spurr.

You will have his cell phone number. You can reach him at any time.

Ramer makes the final decisions on tenant screening and will call you to discuss maintenance.

Ramer served twenty-three years in the combat arms and as a Federal C.I.D. Special Agent. He carried a Top Secret Clearance, supervising thirty-five special agents. "C.I.D." is the Army’s version of the Navy’s NCIS and Air Force’s OSI.)

If he can make the right decisions on serious and sensitive international investigations, you know your property is in good hands.

Last year we had one of our rare evictions. Not a surprise – the evicted tenant was hostile. He threatened to break-in the next morning and take-back possession. We were concerned about the owner’s property and damages. Early the next morning, Ramer notified the police of a possible problem and stationed himself in the living room. He spent the morning safeguarding that owner’s property. The evicted tenant was a rough and ready guy. Don’t be surprised, Ramer “was packing”, and ready for the worst. That tenant never arrived.

How many property managers would stand-by to protect your property? More likely, property managers will rely on the police arriving sometime after the damage is done. In the C.I.D. our motto was "Do what Has to Be Done".

To use an old analogy, let’s compare your investment to a chair. Our responsibilities are the legs of that chair.

The first leg is always: Protecting the Investment.

Tenants come and go but the property is like a member of your family. Good or bad, it’s always there. With a little luck and good care, it’ll be a reward for you.

Protecting means quick responses and good judgment, whether it’s a water leak or a tenant that’s becoming a risk.

The second leg of the chair is: Picking the right tenants.

The horror stories always come from bad tenant choices, aggravated by poor people skills, compounded by decisions based on blind checklists.

Of course we do credit checks. We pay extra to check both evictions and eviction filings.

And of course we call the landlords and verify employment. We verify addresses on the tax record.

A side note: We may have been the first company in the Long Beach area to require renter’s insurance. What if the tenant starts a fire? Or overflows the bath tub? The security deposit dries-up very quickly. Renters insurance is becoming standard in our industry.

The third leg of that chair is: Honesty, trust, and reliable bookkeeping.

As mentioned on the "About Us" page, our owner and president is B. Ramer Spurr. He carried a Top Secret security clearance for twenty years. His experience ranged from street crime to international drug investigations, from being in charge of 35 detectives, to serving on the CID command staff in Washington D.C. He couldn’t keep that kind of clearance and those responsibilities unless his judgment, morals, and ethics are above reproach. He is a hands-on manager with every facet of this business. He’s always available by cell phone, whether for owners, tenants, or troubled neighbors. You’re welcome to call him, even if it’s after hours: 562-397-4956.

We may have run out of legs for that chair, but not reasons for using a professional management company – and picking us:

A good management axiom has always been: "bad news never gets better with time." This really applies to tenants who need help and push limits at the same time.

We’re not bashful when it’s time for tough love. This may be hard to believe but, more than a few times, evictions have been followed by a handshake and an embarrassed "thank you" (yes, by the evicted tenant). By the way, our court actions are few and we’ve yet to lose a judgment. If Ramer can package and win homicide investigations, if he was trained as a hostage negotiator, he can certainly deal with tenants and make the right calls at an eviction.

Preserving the cash flow also means low turn-over, quick "make-readies," and quick re-rents. When a tenant vacates, how many days (how many hours?), does it take to get a new renter in-place? Time is money. Every vacant day is money lost.

I shake my head as I look out the office window and see a "For Rent" sign on a neighboring building. As of this writing, that sign has been there for the past two months. The owner is a friend but he wants to save money and rent it himself. Our company would have rented it within two weeks. In the long run, being a do-it-yourself landlord is more expensive than hiring us. Almost as important, we’ll be the ones answering calls on Saturday nights.

Our vacancy rate typically averages <3%. That’s among the lowest in the industry.

We rarely spend advertising dollars. The web is great for free or low-cost advertising. We are one of the few companies who show our listings on the Realtor Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The advantage is: the MLS feeds a number of websites that go directly to the consumer. We take full advantage of every technology.

Reducing the legal risk:

"We’ve always done it that way" may have worked yesterday. There was a time when you could advertise the rental as a "short walk to the beach." Nowadays, those words could get you sued. I know a young couple who made that mistake. It cost them $10,000 to settle out-of-court. They decided our professional services were cheaper in the long run. (in case you didn’t know, suggesting that someone might be "walking" is discriminating against handicapped folks.)

To keep us all out of trouble, we study the boring stuff. You can relax.

Our Costs?

We gage our fees on the workload. We assess each property individually and determine a fair price before offering a contract. Our fees will be a fixed percentage of the collected rents plus a leasing fee for managing a vacancy and getting a new tenant under contract.

We’ll be the first to admit: you can find a neighbor, a Realtor, or another company who will manage your property for a lower price. But consider this: your property is probably the biggest investment in your portfolio. Whether it’s your mechanic, lawyer, or heart surgeon, you don’t choose important folks by the lowest bidder.

Among our strengths, we could certainly add cutting edge technology. We will leave that topic for your visit.

A last thought:

We have said before: "Sometimes property management is a full-time job. It doesn’t have to be yours."

Let’s add: "Your job is to focus on your career, maybe enjoy a retirement and maybe spend more time on the golf course."